Now while most of these words are technically true, what they're discussing is the import of M-1 Garands, firearms that are 70 yrs old and in no way fit ANY definition of 'Assault Weapon' except as invented in the mind of Josh Sugarmann and other anti-gun fanatics, which it pretty much is to begin w/. Basically any gun they don't like.

"But Josh Sugarmann of the Washington-based Violence Policy Center says
the 200,000 rifles imported by Blue Sky were “basically the first of the
military weapons marketed to the civilian population. If you were going
to draw an ‘assault weapons timeline,’ it would start with the M-1 and
eventually end up where we are today.”

Never mind the fact that CMP has been selling surplus rifles for decades. There's a much simpler explanation for the exponential increase in semi-auto sporters. The gov't and anti's said they didn't want us having them. They are the ones that created what was once a niche market into the booming industry of today.